St. Cloud Financial Credit Union is committed to giving back to the communities we serve by providing financial wellness and literacy tips to all age groups. SCFCU employees regularly meet with various age groups in local communities to share information on anything from earning, saving and spending money, how to budget for expenses, investing and planning for retirement, and more.

SCFCU is proud to partner with Banzai, an award-winning financial education program used by millions of teachers and students around the country to experience real-world financial lessons in a fun, safe way.

SCFCU wants to help children, adults and families achieve financial success, and one way of assisting in that is by offering this financial literacy program free to our members! Banzai is a hands-on program that teaches healthy spending habits, planning ahead and financial responsibility through interactive online games and activities. With this online platform at your fingertips, you have full access to its resources from anywhere and at any time.

The following courses are offered for different age groups:

Banzai Junior (grades 3-7) — Teaches how to count and manage money, as well as the basics of income, spending and borrowing in a fun, easy to understand way. This level provides information on how to earn and manage money using life-like scenarios such as how to pay unexpected expenses and how to save for the future.

Banzai Teen (grades 6-12)— Teaches the importance of saving, cutting costs and critical thinking techniques while walking through life scenarios involving credit cards, auto loans, insurance and more. This level provides information to help plan for the future while navigating life’s unexpected challenges and more.

Banzai Plus (grades 9-12) — Teaches how to plan for the long-term through an interactive course involving budgeting, borrowing and more. This level covers financial topics such as how to save money, pay off debt, fill out a W-4 and the understanding of credit cards.

Colleges and Careers (grades 9+) — Ensures students walk away with an understanding of what they can expect for life after high school. This level covers work experience, budgeting for college, college alternatives, decision making, scholarship, exploring career paths, internships, cost of college and more.

For Parents — Banzai provides a parents and families with a powerful online curriculum that fits easily into educating wherever you are, including resources you can use for free to teach life literacy in the home.

Building Up Your Credit — Provides a short five-course tutorial on how build your credit score, what building credit can do for you, the best practices when using a credit card in order to boost your credit, and more.

Additional Resources

• Access Banzai Direct

• Financial Calculators

• Banzai Pocket Advisor App

• How Teachers Can Sign Up

• Starter Guide for School Sponsors of Banzai